It is not uncommon for Google or Microsoft to shut down services or programs. In fact, there are entire websites dedicated to services and products that these companies shut down.
Google’s latest target is Keen. Keen was developed as a competitor to the incredibly popular Pinterest. As you may know, you can join Pinterest to create collections of “things” that you like. From classic game consoles over your favorite recipes to furniture and holiday destinations.
These collections may be explored by others. Add social features to the mix, and you got a highly addictive foundation.
Keen was not Google’s first rodeo. Remember Google Plus? It was another failed attempt by Google to establish a strong social service foothold.
Keen promised to do things just a tad different when compared to Pinterest. The service allowed users to “curate, collaborate & expand everything” that they were into.
The service was available on the web and on Google Play. Registered users could create so-called “Keens” and add links, text, images, or web searches to them.
Keen allowed users to collaborate and Google added machine learning to the mix to power recommendations.
Keen launched with some fanfare in 2020. While it did get an initial push, as anything that Google does to a degree, it seemed to underperform. The platform got fewer and fewer updates, and nothing really happened to it since December 2021.
Keen shutdown
When you open the Keen website today, you get a popup that informs you that it is shutting down on March 24, 2024.
Both the Keen website and Keen application won’t be accessible anymore after that date. Google says in the farewell message that Keen “was always intended as an experiment”. Keen users may use a data export tool to export their date before March 24, 2024.
All data, including posts, uploads, like, follows, and comments, will no longer be available after March 24, 2024.
Closing Words
Keen is the latest product in a long list of products that Google killed over the years. While there were lots of duds among them, some are missed by some users even today. This includes Google Reader, Google Specialized Search, or Picasa.
Now You: do you use any social media sites?